The Denver Business Journal Reports:
The Legislative Council Committee … voted 14-4 to send Senate Bill 200 … onto the Senate as a whole. SB 200 would create a board that would be responsible for designing a health care exchange, which is essentially an [government-run] Internet marketplace where individuals and small businesses could combine buying power [in attempt] to get lower health insurance rates.
The bill’s future seemed to be in jeopardy when Senate Republicans unsuccessfully tried to add an amendment … that would nullify the bill unless the state is allowed to opt out of the federal Affordable Care Act (sic). And all four of the Senate Republicans on the Legislative Council Committee opposed SB 200 on Tuesday.
However, the five House Republicans on the 18-member bipartisan committee all backed it, despite the earlier rejection of the opt-out amendment. … [House Majority Leader Amy Stephens, R-Monument] said afterward that she is still looking for a way to decouple the bill from any aspect of federal health care reform.
